Cherry-plum, infected with pocket plum disease

I had been hoping for a good cherry-plum harvest this summer - the fruits make excellent jam - but the hedgerow trees that I had my eye on are infected with pocket plum disease, caused by the fungus Taphrina pruni. In the first picture you can see one uninfected developing fruit, green, and then the rest are red, swollen and deformed so that they are flattened, resembling pockets. Soon spores will erupt from their surface.

In previous years I've seen infections on sloes and on bird cherry. This is the first year I've seen a severe infection on cherry-plum.

 

Bullfinches eating cherry plum blossom

 Cherry plum Prunus cerasifera is in full bloom here in County Durham and its blossom is attracting bullfinches, that feed on the flower buds. You could almost say that their territory is defined by the availability of fruit tree blossom buds. This cock bird is one of a family party that can always be seen from a footpath along a disused railway line that's bordered by wild cherry, blackthorn, cherry plum, crab apple, and pear trees that must have grown from discarded cores, providing flower buds from now through until May. Later in the year I often see them feeding on seeds of dandelions, docks and brambles. 

A slow start to spring

 It has been a hesitant spring here in County Durham, in the North Pennines, but a few wild flowers are beginning to bloom. Here are some from the first half of March.

Colt'sfoot, in Teesdale and beside the river Tyne in Hexham

Butterbur, beside the river Tyne in Hexham yesterday

Elm flowering on the edge of woodland near Wolsingham, Weardale

Yellow star of Bethlehem, locally rare, just coming into bloom during the first week of March, beside the river Wear near Wolsingham, Weardale. I've known this small population for over 40 years and it is increasing very slowly.

Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, in Teesdale and at Hexham in Tynedale

Hairy bittercress, infesting my garden and already producing seed pods

Primroses in the snow in my garden

Wood anemones in woodland beside the river Tees at Egglestone

Barren strawberry growing in an old wall in Teesdale

Some early blackthorn blossom, from the beginning of the month

Cherry-plum at Willington in the Wear valley. The earliest blossom was damaged by freezing temperatures and snow

Male flowers of dog's mercury, in a woodland in Teesdale

Stinking hellebore flowering near Hawthorn Dene on the Durham coast, at the beginning of the month

Winter aconites flowered at the end of February and had run to seed by early March. These are in the churchyard at Wolsingham in Weardale.

Dog violets, flowering in my garden today